Diabetes is an
expensive disease to treat, and it's getting pricier as people develop the
illness and its complications earlier, says Matt Petersen, a cost-analysis
expert with the American Diabetes Association.
An analysis of the
cost of treating diabetes is being done, and preliminary data shows "the cost of
treating people with diabetes is growing disproportionately to increases in
other health care costs." A 1998 analysis by the American Diabetes Association
shows:
--Direct medical costs
attributable to diabetes: $ 44.1 billion.
--Indirect costs,
including factors such as days of work lost and permanent disability: $ 54.1
billion.
--Cost of medical care
for a person with diabetes: $ 10,071 per year, compared with $ 2,669 for a
person without diabetes.
As people develop
diabetes at younger ages, the overall price tag balloons, Petersen says. Kidney
dialysis, for instance, costs up to $ 44,000 a year, according to a 1999 study.
If people can postpone kidney failure by five years through delay of diabetes or
better control of the illness, the savings in dollars can be significant, he
says.
Prevention has a
bottom line cost, too, Petersen says, although it's harder to estimate.
Prevention could include the price of access to a gym, nutrition education, a
personal trainer, a diabetes educator.
"In the short term, there could be considerably higher health costs, but you prevent complications years later," Petersen says.
Source: Diabetes In Control Dot Com: American Diabetes Association Publication date: 2002-10-24.
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